From Nerd To Romance
by RoCkInSoNiClUvR1989
Summary: After the events of Sonic Forces. Sonic and the team were reunited with the Freedom Fighters that they haven't met in a few years. And with old friends, comes new love.
1. Fight or Flight

Buzz buzz buzz. That was the sound that has awakened a young boy from his sleep. He moans as he lazily brings his hand up to try and hit the snooze button. The initial press however failed to shut the noise off, so he groaned as he then smacks the button, for it to finally turn off. The 11 year old boy then finally gets up to rub his eyes, revealing himself to be a fox cub with bed hair.

"Ugh, I've got to stop staying up inventing all night." The cub moaned. His name is Miles Prower, but he's best known by his nickname, Tails, largely in part of his mutation. His mutation is of course, having twin tails. Yawning, Tails gets off his bed to stretch for a little bit, only wearing socks as a Mobian like him has no need for clothes outside of gloves and shoes. The females however, tend to wear clothes as their sensitive areas are more exposed. This has one left to wonder where the males' genitals are at. That's another question for another day. Now Tails starts his daily routine, getting cleaned up and brushing his teeth. He spits and then goes to his closet, which is full of matching shoes, socks, and gloves. He finally gets dressed, and walks outside to breathe in the fresh, welcoming air of the Great Forest where he lives. With that, Tails uses his tails to gain lift with them twirling like a helicopter. He flies over to his workshop, and enters to find his valued treasure, his Holy Grail, the Tornado. Gifted to him by his closest friend, Sonic the Hedgehog, he's used it many times before to assist his friends with air travel, or to lead a fighter squadron against an aerial threat. But for now, he just wants to fly around a bit.

"We're gonna have some fun. I've been fighting for so long that I nearly forgot how awesome it is to fly." Tails said and smiled as he looks at his plane before he goes to his stand to grab his scarf and his flight goggles, putting them on. Entering the cockpit, he starts flipping switches, which activates it. With a press of a button, the gates of the workshop open to show the strip of land in front of it, transforming into a runway. Smirking, Tails starts the propellor and straps in.

"Just like my brother Sonic, gotta go fast." Tails said as he speeds down the runway with the Tornado, and then he has achieved liftoff. "And now, to fly high." He added as he achieved further altitude. At cruising speed, he flies over the Great Forest, and eventually over a small town called Knothole. This brought back memories. Before all this, him and Sonic and friends were saving the world once again from the evil Dr. Eggman and his new ally, Infinite. But they didn't do this alone, they also had help from friends that they haven't met in years. They were the Freedom Fighters, consisting of Princess Sally Acorn, Antoine and Bunnie D'Coolette, Rotor Walrus, Mighty the Armadillo, and Ray the Flying Squirrel.

"Such wonderful memories…" Tails said in his mind, until he then sees an energy blast graze the side of his plane. This snapped him back to reality as he turns to see Buzzbombers and Eggman Drones firing at him. Quickly turning serious, Tails speeds up to try and outrun them. Unfortunately they're trailing him and are persistent. "Man, you guys never give up!" Tails yelled as he performs an Immelmann maneuver, surprising the the attackers as he fires energy rounds at them, causing them to explode. But there were more to fight. There were now robotic jets following him, and they went to fire their missiles. However, Tails had a trick up his sleeve as he deploys flares, causing the missiles to swerve in different directions and explode. Undeterred, the jets continued their pursuit. Tails sighed.

"Dang it! I thought that would work. Alright, T-Pup! Take control!" Tails yelled as his robotic puppy T-Pup flies out of the plane and lands in the cockpit. The dog then hooks up and controls the plane. Meanwhile, Tails goes to the back and is encased in a ballistic glass turret with an LED targeting screen. He starts firing energy rounds towards the jets. He manages to take one down as the others split. Tails turns to follow them and fire, eventually taking down two. Then, the last two them fly towards the Tornado behind Tails, but Tails sensed them, and in slow motion, he turns and fires at the jets, incinerating them. Tails cheered in victory, until he realizes that he hit his plane, making one section of the wing look like Swiss cheese. Not to mention, a stray shot from the jets fused the latches on his turret chamber. He was now stuck, and the plane was losing altitude. Yelling and banging on the glass, he caught the attention of T-Pup, who then flies to his master's seat to try an open it. Luckily, he was equipped with a laser, and fires a beam at the latch as it melts and opens up. Tails smiled as he got out, but looked to see it about to hit the ground. As fast as he could, he goes over to the lever and pulls it, seeing it stuck. Using his strength, he keeps pulling and trying to turn the plane. At just the nick of time, he successfully pulls the lever and the plane goes up.

"Yes! We're alive!" Tails cheered with his pup, who barks and licks his cheek. With that, he decides to land the plane near Knothole, where his friends ran to see him. Sonic and Sally were really worried.

"Tails, are you alright?!" Sonic asked in astonishment.

"We saw the whole deal happen in the sky!" "We were scared that you wouldn't make it." Sally said who was at the brink of tears. Tails stepped out of the plane, takes off his goggles and wipes his face of oil, just now noticing the huge crowd. He nervously chuckled and shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, looks like I made it." Tails replied "And, how's that for a morning drive?" he asked nervously with a smile, and like that, his friends ran to him to give him a group hug. A sweet victory for a brave little pilot.

"Oh wow, I feel so loved!" Tails exclaimed in astonishment as his friends break up to give him air. Sonic smiles as he pats his back.

"Course, little bro. Couldn't imagine life without ya." Sonic replied to him.

"You're the one who keeps us going, honey." Sally added with a warm smile as she gives him a kiss on his forehead, making him blush a bit.

"I mean, you not being here is like having a chili dog with no chili. It wouldn't be the same." Sonic said of which got a weird look from Sally, of which Sonic laughed as Sally giggled at how weird that analogy was. Tails chuckled with them.

"So, what do you guys suppose I do now?" Tails asked curiously. "I can't exactly fix my plane in the state it's in. It needs brand new armor plating and turret systems. It's going to take a while."

Sally and Sonic then look at each other to try and come up with something. They knew Tails was right, and yet they were at a loss. Sonic thought about fighting Eggman with him again, but Eggman has not been active as of recently other than the aerial fight. Sally then had a light bulb go off as she looks at her handheld. She brings it up.

"NICOLE, what's the status on the town's defense system?" Sally asked, and the handheld begins running calculations. The calculations then materialize as a hologram. This hologram displayed the status of the defense system, which was at 65%, and was in need of a new OS Update.

"I FEEL WEAK, SALLY. DEFENSE SYSTEM BELOW MAXIMUM." A computerized female voice said through the handheld. Sally nodded at this and then looks to Tails, who is perplexed by this. At this point, Sally knows what Tails should do in his spare time. She could get Rotor to do it, but Rotor hurt his hand, one that he needs steady for the process. And Tails has been interested in the device since Sally discovered her after meeting Tails again.

"Well, Tails, would you be interested in making sure NICOLE is updated?" Sally asked her adopted son. Tails smiled and nodded.

"Why not? I'm interested in seeing what I can do with a computer. I mean, I was able to create my own handheld, so I think I'll be ok." Tails replied to her.

"Glad to hear it" Sally then hands him NICOLE. The fox cub smiles as he inspects it. From that, NICOLE turned on to greet him.

"GREETINGS, MILES PROWER. I UNDERSTAND THAT YOU WISH TO FIX ME. TO DO SO, YOU MUST TAKE ME TO THE LOCATION I'VE MARKED ON THE MAP." NICOLE explained as the location was marked. Tails then goes to follow the checkpoint, walking the path. Sally giggles watching him go. Sonic however, was a bit confused.

"Uhhh, will he be okay? Should I go watch him?" Sonic asked as he pointed. Sally scoffs.

"Don't worry, he'll be fine. NICOLE is equipped with a built in force field, SOS signal, and tracking device." Sally replied to him, of which Sonic understood and nodded. So as of now, Tails was on a quest set to him by Sally and her portable AI computer.


	2. A Hike and A Discovery

Tails was now in the Great Forest, with NICOLE as his guide. And as it was morning, the forest was beautiful to look at. The trees reached high above and almost blocked out the sunlight, but there was still plenty of light, so he wasn't blind while hiking. The birds were chirping, and he looked to his side to see a family of raccoons walk past him. They looked to him and chipped before heading into the left of the forest.

He thought it was kinda cute, a family of raccoons almost traveling with him. It reminded him of his own family, with Sonic, Sally and the others. He sighed with a smile.

"It's beautiful here. I wish you could see this, NICOLE, the views sure are something." Tails said to his small companion.

"I know, they are…." NICOLE said with a somewhat relaxed voice. Tails was bewildered hearing that. He then decided to ask her.

"What? What'd you say?" Tails asked in a confused tone. Of which NICOLE snapped back to her usual tone.

"NOTHING, TAILS, I'M JUST FEELING TIRED. NOW, WE'RE ALMOST AT OUR DESTINATION." NICOLE said as she blinks with the location objective being some as only a few meters ahead.

After walking a few more meters, Tails had reached the destination. The location was a building with vines growing on it. It wasn't exactly destroyed, more like it was abandoned. The building had a huge antenna and satellite dish at the top, with a power station near the side to of course, provide power. If Tails and Sonic could, they could make this a suitable hangout location.

"WE HAVE ARRIVED. THE DOOR SHOULD BE OPEN BY MY PRESENCE." NICOLE explained, as Tails looks to the computer, and then looks to the door as he then hovers over to it with his tails. The door, as NICOLE promised, opened up electronically. But before Tails could enter, he looks down to see notes, all of which were downright mean. It's if people didn't like who was here before him. The fox cub ignored these and continued in.

They enter to see a dark room that quickly turns on the lights to reveal a place resembling a computer laboratory, with some computers out and scavenged with tools around, like someone was building things here. There were also basic utilities like a kitchen, toilet, shower room, and a lounge. But, the strangest thing, was that the place looked well preserved in comparison to the outside. It could either mean that the place hasn't been touched in years, or that someone was living here. Tails was wondering this.

"Uhhh, NICOLE? Has anyone lived here before?" Tails asked her. NICOLE was quick to reply back to him.

"NEGATIVE. THE LABORATORY HAS BEEN ABANDONED A LONG TIME AGO, DUE TO THE LEAD SCIENTISTS SUFFERING A TRAGEDY." The computer said as Tails looked around, walking in as the door closes behind him.

"So, where do we start fixing you up?" Tails asked.

"GO PICK UP SOME TOOLS. I SHOULD HAVE CABLE ATTACHMENT ON MY SIDE.. AFTER THAT, GO TO THE MAINTENANCE ROOM." NICOLE replied, at which Tails nodded. He picks up some tools he found, and walks over to the maintenance room. This is where he starts fixing her.

First then he had to do was to switch her off. After that, he unscrews the screw holes to carefully open it up. The technology inside, was a surprise to him. It was equipped with the latest computer components to develop an advanced AI computer.

Although, he could see that some of the wiring was all over the place. To fix this, he snipped off the wires and kept track of where the negative and positive leads go. He replaces the previous wires with smaller wires to make it more compact, soldering the leads back in to their original points. To protect the wires, he wraps them in shrink tubing, of which he applies heat for it to shrink. This allows it to snuggly secure the wires.

Some of the keys on the keyboard were full of dust, so he uses an air can to blast away the dust. He cleans the screen, the speaker, microphone, and holographic projector with rubbing alcohol. Not only that, but parts of the circuit board were loose, which was an easy fix with just a cleanup and another solder. After a few more instances of him cleaning and rewiring, NICOLE was now in pristine condition. She now looked just like new.

"Phew. That took a while. Let's turn her on." Tails smiled as he goes to the power button to turn her on. With a ding, NICOLE was activated.

"EXCELLENT. I AM NOW OPERATING AT FULL POWER. NOW, ALL THAT'S LEFT IS A SYSTEMS UPDATE. TO DO SO, GO TO THE MAINFRAME AND HOOK ME UP TO IT." NICOLE said to her caretaker, who nods as he looks to the mainframe room.

"Okay, I got you." Tails said smiling a bit before picking her up and taking her there. Inside, he sees a large tower box with a drive. Tails remember what she said earlier about a cable, and pulls it out to jack it into the tower. He places NICOLE on a nearby stool as a way to keep her steady. "Now, when will the update be completed?" Tails asked in curiosity.

"THE UPDATE WILL TAKE 6 HOURS. THE REASON IS BECAUSE THE UPDATE WILL FIX BUGS, INTRODUCE INCREASED PROCESSING AND CALCULATIONS, AND ADD IN NEW FEATURES." NICOLE explained. Tails was confused at the last part of her sentence.

"New features? What new features?" He asked.

"I CANNOT CONFIRM AT THIS POINT. IF YOU WISH TO WAIT, I'D SUGGEST STAYING THE NIGHT." NICOLE replied. Tails looked around and shrugged. If he was going to spend the night, it'd be better than spending it out in the forest.

So, Tails waited, and waited, and waited. Luckily, there was non-perishable food available in the kitchen. He ate some cans of peach slices, and some canned chicken noodle soup. After that, he kept waiting, until eventually he passed out on the floor asleep. He was sleeping peacefully, dreaming about flying, and going on an adventure with Sonic. It all then ended, as he woke up to the sound of someone feasting in the kitchen.

He woke up scared, scared at the thought of a homeless person barging in and stealing the food. And if he or she steals NICOLE, it would be hard to explain it to Aunt Sally. But he knows that he can't rely on Sonic forever. So, he steps up, trying to act brave, and brings out his arm cannon to then walk to the kitchen.

"Whoever you are, you're not welcome here! I won't let you hurt anyone!" Tails said as walks across the lab to the kitchen. He turns the corner to aim at the sight in front of him. What he saw was surprising. It was a girl, more specifically, a lynx Mobian. She wore glasses, a purple hoodie with sleeves that cover her hands, black trousers that reach her ankles. This girl was also barefoot. The lynx looked to him aiming his cannon at him, and she cowers to a corner to start sobbing.

"D-Don't hurt me! I mean you no harm! I was just hungry...…" She said between sobs, with a voice that sounded so familiar to the fox. It's like, it was the same voice that was instructing him all day, but as an actual person.

"Who are you? Why do you sound like NICOLE?" Tails asked her calmly as he lowers his cannon. The hungry lynx sniffles as she looks to him with bright green eyes, with tears that were falling down her face.

"Because, I am Nicole." she replied shyly. Tails was shocked to hear this, as this was the very first time he's seen Nicole as a Mobian.


	3. A Quick Trip Home

"W-What? How?" Tails asked in shock, hearing her identify as the computer. He almost couldn't believe it.

"W-Well, I've been able to gain a body by nanobots." Nicole replied to his question. Tails however had more to ask.

"How long have you been able to do this?" Tails questioned her.

"E-Ever since I was first activated, or as you say, born. I-I lived here for a while, and people left mean notes thinking…I was a hermit." Nicole stammered as her voice cracks a bit before sobbing again, covering her face. From that, Tails connected the dots and couldn't help but feel sad for her.

So, the fox boy then walks to her, his arm cannon disappearing. He gets down on his knees to get to her level, and lightly pats her back as she sobs.

"I...I never did anything wrong...yet I'm hated so much...what did I do?" Nicole asked in despair as she sniffles. Tails then goes to her to try and get her to stop crying by hugging her. He also snuggled her and nuzzles her face with his. The cub did this all while blushing.

Nicole was confused, stopping her crying. This change of attitude scared Tails as he exclaims, breaks away and fidgets. He shakes and tumbles, as he's not used to female company like this, and he didn't know what to say or do as to not upset her.

"Are you ok?" Nicole asked him, as Tails gets back up. He blushes as he stammers trying to come up with an explanation for his display of comfort.

"I-I'm fine...I'm a little nervous, really. I never had girl company like this..." Tails chuckled nervously as he scratches the back of his head, blushing.

"Why not?" Nicole asked. Tails responded with a shrug.

"Well, you know, it's not very often I have a girl visit me like this...I'm usually alone most of the time.." Tails responded in a somewhat nervously upbeat attitude. This brought a small chuckle and smile out of Nicole. It was then interrupted by a loud rumble, which came from Nicole's stomach, of which she rubbed her stomach.

"Oh, you're hungry?" The fox boy asked his guest, and she nods sadly. Tails looks through the cabinets to look for more food, but that was all they had. Looking at her, and then the cabinet, he then had a light bulb go off in his head. Closing the cabinet, he turns to her. Hesitant, and blushing about thinking what he's going to say.

"Uhh, Nicole? W-We don't have any…more food here. But...i-if you want...you want to...g-go get a meal?" Tails stammered nervously, as his face was now beet red. Nicole then gets up, and Tails was bracing for whatever she was going to say. But to his surprise, Nicole smiled and nodded.

"Of course, Tails, I'd like to." Nicole replied to him, and Tails couldn't help but smile.

"W-Well, what are we waiting for?" He asked.

—

Later, Tails and Nicole walked out of the building, with Tails making sure to bring Nicole's computer with him. They walked through the Great Forest, which was surprisingly well lit, given it was nighttime. Tails theorized it was the Moon, looking up to see that it was really bright. He smiled seeing it, and looks to see Nicole is equally amused by it.

By this time, the fireflies started to come out, illuminating the area in a few bright blips of light. Nicole was entranced by the bright lights, and Tails chuckled seeing this.

"You like them?" Tails asked her, and Nicole responded with a yes, giggling. Then, one firefly landed on her nose, lighting up brightly, surprising her as she crosses her eyes to look at the little bug. Tails reaches with his finger, to let the firefly get on his hand and show Nicole.

"Wow, it's so pretty. It's incredible that they can make their own light…" Nicole said with interest. Tails nodded, blushing to admit that it sure is. Then, the little firefly then flies out of sight, only leaving a trail with bright blips.

Back to their quest, the two continued until they then reached Knothole, of which the town was still active. Tails looked to Nicole and blushes.

"S-So, um, do you have any favorite meals?" Tails asked her, of which Nicole shakes her head.

"I don't really, I just usually eat what's in the cabinet back at home." Nicole nervously explains. He then starts thinking of where to eat. Chili dogs honestly, weren't the right mood for tonight, and the cafe is closed. What was open and appropriate for tonight, was a local diner that has good food.

"Well, there's a place I know that I think would be great to dine at. It's a diner that I sometimes go to for lunch. I'd imagine they'd have some good meals for tonight." Tails blushes, of which Nicole smiles in response.

"That's great, Tails, I'd love to go there." Nicole replied. This restored Tails's confidence a bit, and so they head to the diner, with bright neon lights and a vintage 1950's style to the restaurant. From here, they enter.


End file.
